Caterpillars and Tree Climbing
by Sigil
Summary: Glorfindel has to entertain the twins - but it goes wrong when fuzzy green caterpillars become involved! This is in response to SkyFire's fic challenge on the Mellon Chronicles mailing list.


Caterpillars and Tree Climbing  
By Sigil  
  
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S  
  
Something was wrong. That, Glorfindel knew. One did not live thousands of years without developing some sense for danger. The only question was, what could possibly be the problem? The sun was shining, there wasn't a cloud in the sky, he had a nice shady spot to read his book under a tree, and there definitely weren't orcs in Rivendell. He turned toward the house of Elrond, and instantly knew what danger awaited.  
  
Silence.  
  
Anyone who knew Elrond's twins sons knew that silence was not a good thing. At least when Elladen and Elrohir were noisy, you knew where they were. Anytime they were quiet, they were planning something.  
  
A roar of rage came from the house, and Glorfindel sagged with relief. Yes! They weren't after him this time - or his horse. The last time the twins got to Asfaloth, they painted him bright blue, stuck a horn on his head, and passed him off as a unicorn. They even charged admission! It had taken him days to get all that paint off.  
  
Glorfindel was able to discern amid the yelling one voice shouting his name. It sounded like Elrond. Against his better judgment, the elf put down his book and headed for the house. His every instinct screamed at him to turn and run, but he knew it'd do no good. Elrond seemed to have a sixth sense for his location whenever he needed someone to get the twins out his hair and onto someone else's nerves.  
  
At the doorway, Glorfindel paused to take a deep breath before entering. The last thing he wanted to do was step in on one of the twin's stink bombs unprepared. Who knew skunks and pipe-weed could produce such a smell?  
  
Before he could actually step into the room, he was bowled over by two small bodies. Experience let him catch them before they got too far, as behind him the dreaded words were spoken.  
  
"Glorfindel, why don't you entertain the twins for a while?"  
  
Just like that, his fate was sealed. Now he would have to spend the rest of the afternoon dodging stink bombs (he made a mental note to stay away from any and all skunks the twins might decide to catch) and avoiding getting dunked in the pond. What fun! If only Elrond would find someone else to torture with his children, Glorfindel could get some peace.  
  
"What am I supposed to do? They certainly don't need another archery lesson!" the blonde elf growled sarcastically.  
  
"Why don't you teach them to climb trees?" the elf lord replied. Mentally, he checked that off his 'twins distractions' list.  
  
The twins seemed to like the idea. "Yeah, Glorfy. Let's climb trees! Betcha I can get to the top first!" The brothers raced each other to the tree Glorfindel had been resting under just a few minutes before.  
  
"Wait, I thought you didn't know how - " He stopped as the two shimmied up the trunk and disappeared into the tree above. "So much for that. 'Why don't you teach them to climb trees, Glorfindel?'" He mimicked Elrond's voice. "Why don't I just drown myself in the pond. It'll have the same effect," he grumbled.  
  
A tentative voice rang out from above. "Glorfy?"  
  
"What?" he demanded.  
  
"How do you get down? It's really high up."  
  
Groaning, the elf hoisted himself into the tree. Great. Now he had to rescue the little demons. Maybe he should just leave them there.  
  
Looking up, he could see the frightened twins clinging to branches right next to each fairly high up. Both had death grips on their limbs, and didn't seem to be interested in going anywhere.  
  
"Watch out for the green things, Glorfy," one of them called.  
  
"What green thi - " A fuzzy green caterpillar fell from the branch above him and landed by his hand. "Oh. Caterpillars."  
  
He reached for the branch the caterpillar had fallen from and pulled himself up..to see a whole colony of them. Surprised, he let the branch go, and every single caterpillar sprang into the air and then fell - and somehow most of them managed to make it into his hair. He shook his head, trying to dislodge the creatures, but they seemed determined to stick to him. He couldn't free a hand to pull them off without falling, so finally he gave up and climbed to the twins.  
  
He had quite a time making it down, with two children and dozens of caterpillars clinging to him, but somehow he made it - or almost did. When he reached the lowest branch, he lowered the twins down to the ground - and promptly lost his balance. The end result was two very amused elven twins and one very disgruntled elf. Low laughter alerted him that someone else had seen his little acrobatics.  
  
Looking up, Glorfindel saw Elrond standing over him, trying to hold back the laughter that was apparently too much for an elf lord to bear. Finally, he calmed down enough to speak, but first he plucked a fuzzy green caterpillar from the blonde elf's head.  
  
"Do I *want* to know what you're doing with that thing?" Glorfindel demanded.  
  
"Just inspecting this great monster that somehow manages to throw elves out of trees," Elrond replied. The twins doubled up with laughter. "Now that you've shown Elladen and Elrohir the correct way to climb trees, I suggest you get back to your book. Come, my sons. The cook has food in the kitchen." The family set out toward the house.  
  
Grumbling, Glorfindel picked up his book again. Great. Just what he always wanted, a fuzzy green caterpillar book cover. Before losing himself in his book, one more thought broke through.  
  
/And this is one of the GOOD days!/  
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Please review! 


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